Such laser devices are known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 6,954,479 B2, the content of which is incorporated in the present description by reference. In the printed documents, surface-emitting semiconductor laser devices are described, the active element of the vertical emission region of which is formed by a quantum well structure which is optically pumped by adjoining edge-emitting semiconductor lasers. Pump radiation source and quantum well structure are epitactically grown on a common substrate. The monolithically integrated arrangement thus produced saves space and can be inexpensively produced. Furthermore, the production process ensures accurate positioning of pump radiation source and vertical emission region with respect to one another.
Optically pumped semiconductor laser devices of said type permit a high output power since the power dissipation sources, resistance losses during the charge carrier injection in the electrical pumping, on the one hand, and optical absorption losses, on the other hand, are spatially separate. At the same time, they exhibit an advantageous round beam profile and not an elliptical or line-shaped beam profile like, for example, an edge-emitting laser.
In particular, a good beam quality is obtained with laser radiation in the fundamental mode TEM00 of the vertical emission region.